Good luck, obkook. I will DEFINITELY recommend the Yepp easy-fit on the back; it's a really great seat. I can't speak of the mini up front, though. Our 25% 2yo fits nicely in the Yepp Maxi, so it's defenitely flexible; but I think that 6mo is probably way too small. Actually, you might want to check with your pediatrician; most of the recommendations we see are that you don't want to bike with the kids until they can sit up well by themselves. They need the neck strength... Of course, by the time they can do that, they will probably be doable in the Yepp Maxi.

Out here in flat Illinois, I haven't had too much trouble without the motor, but San Francisco is a whole other story. Are you looking at BionX, or something else? It would be great to see what you end up with.

In personal news, we took advantage of a weird 49F day last weekend, to do another grocery run. Everyone had a great time; only "problem" was the 2 year old falling asleep in her seat just as we reached home. She was so groggy when we dismounted that she could barely walk through the hallway; went right back down for a nap, needless to say.

I'm really loving the limited time we get on the bike with the girls; can't wait until spring when we can really go for some adventures.

Not to derail the thread (nice build!) but obkook you definitely don't want to put a 6 month old on a bike- a child should be able to comfortably sit upright on their own for an extended period of time before they ride, especially when you consider their head/neck has to support the extra weight of a helmet.

We have a hooptie on the back of our Big dummy. The 4yr old uses the stokers and the 2yr old has a yepp. Anyone have any homemade solutions for a back rest/headrest so the child using stokers can dose off safely?
Thanks

Great looking bike - thanks for sharing. You wont regret having a dyno-hub. I just love mine which does my lights at night and during the day keeps my gps and cell phone charged. I use my bike for touring and I gotta tell you that the worst thing on my prior trips was sitting in camp ground bathrooms and laundries waiting for those items to charge. It would often mean 2 hours hanging around watching them, too terrified to leave in case someone pinched them. Now I've the dyno-hub that worry is a thing of the past. I use a gizmo called an E-werk which sorts out all the current requirements.
Happy spinning!

Great looking bike - thanks for sharing. You wont regret having a dyno-hub. I just love mine which does my lights at night and during the day keeps my gps and cell phone charged. I use my bike for touring and I gotta tell you that the worst thing on my prior trips was sitting in camp ground bathrooms and laundries waiting for those items to charge. It would often mean 2 hours hanging around watching them, too terrified to leave in case someone pinched them. Now I've the dyno-hub that worry is a thing of the past. I use a gizmo called an E-werk which sorts out all the current requirements.
Happy spinning!

I’m curious to see how you rigged up a current regulation circuit for charging up your GPS/cellphone/etc. Please do tell!

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I’m curious to see how you rigged up a current regulation circuit for charging up your GPS/cellphone/etc. Please do tell!

Hi Leopold,
I have attached to my hub press on double connectors. From these, one set of wires goes directly to my Edelux headlight. Another set of wires goes up to my E-werk, which is mounted on my frame (head tube). From my E-werk wires go to a cache battery mounted opposite my E-werk on the head tube. The battery has a USB typre interface wire coming from it. When you buy the E-werk you get different wire connections to fit things like Nokia phones and my Garmin Edge 800.
Heres a link where it is undoubtedly better explained. Hope this helps.Busch & Mller E-WERK Charger
Let me know your thoughts.

Update,
just looked some more at your question and think it may be leaning more toward the regulation of current side of things. Hmmmmm, electrics arent my forte'.
The E-werks beauty is that you can change both the voltage and amps.
I dont bother, in that I have the E-werk set to USB standard which charges the cache battery at 5v and I'm not sure how many amp as I'm not home at the mo.
The battery is continually topping up what ever item is connected (most often my Edge 800).

Hi Leopold,
I have attached to my hub press on double connectors. From these, one set of wires goes directly to my Edelux headlight. Another set of wires goes up to my E-werk, which is mounted on my frame (head tube). From my E-werk wires go to a cache battery mounted opposite my E-werk on the head tube. The battery has a USB typre interface wire coming from it. When you buy the E-werk you get different wire connections to fit things like Nokia phones and my Garmin Edge 800.
Heres a link where it is undoubtedly better explained. Hope this helps.Busch & Mller E-WERK Charger
Let me know your thoughts.

Update,
just looked some more at your question and think it may be leaning more toward the regulation of current side of things. Hmmmmm, electrics arent my forte'.
The E-werks beauty is that you can change both the voltage and amps.
I dont bother, in that I have the E-werk set to USB standard which charges the cache battery at 5v and I'm not sure how many amp as I'm not home at the mo.
The battery is continually topping up what ever item is connected (most often my Edge 800).

Does this help?

Ahh, got it. Thanks. Looks as though the unit is using the battery for an “in between”, in that it is being charged and then the current from the battery is actually charging up your portable devices.

QUOTE from MTBR.COM: You have given Brewtality too much Reputation in the last 24 hours, try again later.

Just finished some custom running boards for the dummy... it looks like I'll probably end up re-making at least one since I got the bolt holes slightly wrong. Even though I measured about 6 times, the loop clamps when tight weren't at the same place they were when loose. Ah well; only an extra $10 for a new board. I'll run with these for a while to make sure that they are in the right size and place before I remake them. I still have enough aluminum tubing left for another set a few more inches out, if needed... and I may decide to make a 2nd set with 6" boards instead of 4".

Anyone besides me /love/ the look of hickory? There was a georgous bit of knotty pattern near one end of the boards, which I left out due to concerns about strength. Too bad. EDIT: The one that's upside down looks even better on the top... but I wanted to show how everything fit together.

Spring has sprung?

Well, after a very sunny day yesterday, today is a little grey and windy. Still, after the long winter it's nice to be out and about on the bike again. I know a lot of people bike with kids in the snow, and we did on a couple of days... but mostly it seemed like a bad idea with lots of wind. Maybe I'll build a wind shelter for the back at some point, but right now it just isn't ready for windy COLD weather.

Still, after a winter's commuting, not too bad:

A little rust on the fender bolts to clean up (T-9 boeshield and steel wool on bolts??):

The rust on the chain cleaned up nicely about 3 weeks ago; no sign of coming back:

STILL need to clean up my horrendous wiring job, though!

Foot pegs are finally lowered for the 3 year old (she agreed at last):

Well, I just made a change to my dummy... I've been dealing with a lot of hand pain lately. Not sure if it's just sore muscles or carpal tunnel, but I've been icing my thumbs and wrists once or twice a week. Boo.

My new commuter setup has road bars, and seems to be a little easier on my hands than the dummy... so I sprung for a set of ergon GP-1S grips for my dummy today. They definitely seem MUCH more comfortable than what I had on there before, which is awesome. I'm glad I went out to REI to check them out, as I would probably have gotten the Larges on-line; but getting to try them side by side there was no question that the small grips fit my hands much better. I also raised the brake levers so they weren't so far down low... Any other suggestions on things to try?

I'll post some pictures in a day or two when I have a chance to take them.

Well, I just made a change to my dummy... I've been dealing with a lot of hand pain lately. Not sure if it's just sore muscles or carpal tunnel, but I've been icing my thumbs and wrists once or twice a week. Boo.

My new commuter setup has road bars, and seems to be a little easier on my hands than the dummy... so I sprung for a set of ergon GP-1S grips for my dummy today. They definitely seem MUCH more comfortable than what I had on there before, which is awesome. I'm glad I went out to REI to check them out, as I would probably have gotten the Larges on-line; but getting to try them side by side there was no question that the small grips fit my hands much better. I also raised the brake levers so they weren't so far down low... Any other suggestions on things to try?

I'll post some pictures in a day or two when I have a chance to take them.

I use a Soma three speed bar (mustache style bar) on my Design Logic cargo bike and really like it! Way more comfortiable than flat bars and the bike still remains very stable So I would say try out some different bars on the Dummy, hand pains no good and well its worth a trying some different bars out to eliminate it!

Pictures coming soon... I actually managed to take a few on today's grocery run. I measured it on Strava today, 11.1mi round-trip, 1h 40min, including shopping time, door to door. Two girls in tow and a great time had by all.

Last week I had some errands to run on Thursday after work, so I took the Dummy. First time in a long while that I've been on it by myself, without the girls. I was amazed with how stable and balanced it is. my cross-check turns on a dime... when I try to corner the Dummy it just wants to keep-on-trucking straight ahead. My normal commute time to work is 13.6 to 14.1mph over 20 minutes. On the Big Dummy, I hit 13.8 with no wind... surprised the heck out of me! Although I did notice that I maintained a much more constant speed, where the cross-check tends to surge faster at the drop of a feather and then drop back again.

I am officially LOVING the Ergon grips. They feel fantastic and comfortable under my hands, and the hand pain I was experiencing is down to an occasional twinge. I love my Jones loop bars, and don't think they have anything to do with the hand pain. I suspect the combination of working at a computer all day with low muscle strength in hands, arms, and core body. With the Ergons things are doing fantastic, and as I get more fit I have no doubt things will continue to improve.

On another thread someone told me that the Pugsley is a truck. I have therefore promoted the Big Dummy to Freight-train. Will try to post some pictures tomorrow.

Nice! Ergon grips came on my used Trek Transport I picked up 3 weeks ago. Never had them before and love them! Do you have integrated bar end ones or just the grips? Mine have integrated bar ends. Nice for sitting and grinding up hills under loads.

My TT is faster than my pugs but slower than my Salsa Casseroll. It rides astonishingly well, even under loads. I hardly notice the length unless I stand up and sway/grind up a hill. But yes, I probably should then, huh?

Any more updates, evandy? I have a 4 and 1 year old kids and will end up setting up the back like yours. I've got a Jones loop bar as well that I'll be using on it, as it didn't work out on my MTB. I'll also be setting mine up as a 1x10 with 32T up front and 12-36T out back.

Just riding it with my girls and having a good time, really. I did take the lights off to move to a Pugsley for the winter, since I don't really seem to do too much night-time riding on the Dummy these days, although I have in the past and probably will again.

Sweet bike. I've always wanted a Big Dummy, and will have one someday. I have the same kiddo seat and like it a lot. Your setup is fantastic and I envy it.

Off topic...bought a new 09 Honda Fit back when the second gen came out, a loaded Sport Nav. The concept of the car is wonderful and the space utilization amazing. But I hated the rest of the car and traded it after a year on a Civic. The air conditioning was horrible and could not even remotely keep up with Kansas City summer heat. The suspension was not just firm, which is good, but rather was brittle / harsh, which is not good. You could tell whether a dime was heads or tails driving over one. The very responsive steering became a liability driving across Kansas on a windy day, with the engine screaming to maintain highway speed on slight uphill grades as the transmission shifted endlessly. Maybe a stick shift would have helped that.

I love small cars, and love wagons/hatches, so in theory I should have loved the Fit. But I can't remember ever hating a car that much, now that I think about it. It's probably just, no pun intended, a bad car for wide open midwest spaces and much better suited to urban areas with smooth roads. I was probably trying to put a square peg in a round hole so to speak.

Synchro - Too bad about your experiences with the Fit. My 07 now has 70k miles and I still love it. So useful and gets 35-40mpg. I do have a stick, so maybe that helps. At least the Fit retains incredible resale value so hope you didn't lose much.

By the way, the AC is weak so I tinted all windows. Now, I hardly need the fan speed above 2 even on 100+ Degree days.

Sweet bike. I've always wanted a Big Dummy, and will have one someday. I have the same kiddo seat and like it a lot. Your setup is fantastic and I envy it.

Yeah, the setup is absolutely perfect for us. I haven't managed to get out as much as I'd like this year, but every time we DO get out, we love it. The Yepp is a really, really great seat. Easy to put on/take off, doesn't get hot in the sun, and has a very sturdy frame if we should ever get in a crash. I had a welder friend mod a Tubus Cargo to put a window in it so that I can even put the seat on my cross-check. It's around on another thread here somewhere...

If you can use the cargo space (for kids and/or stuff), then I think it's really hard to go wrong with a Dummy.